How to measure impact without revenue metrics.

In the first two articles of our Impact Series, we explored why trust is the currency for impact ventures and why building the right design system early shapes adoption. Now we're addressing the next challenge: how do you measure success and prove traction when traditional business metrics don't apply?

The answer: redefine what success looks like. Impact isn't what your product claims to do. It's what users do differently because of it. A carbon reduction platform succeeds when individuals and companies act on insights, not when they log emissions data. A civic-tech tool works when residents coordinate neighbourhood clean-ups or petition for policy changes, not when they simply create accounts. A health app creates impact when patients change habits, not when they download it.

This shift changes what you measure. You're not measuring success through sales. You're tracking adoption, retention, and depth of engagement. These metrics prove both impact and commercial viability.

Metrics that count.

When measuring impact, focus on metrics that capture behaviour change in action. These metrics prove your mission is landing while demonstrating commercial viability. Investors need to see that users adopt, engage, and stick with the product. That's traction. That's proof the model works.

• Onboarding completion rate

Do users finish onboarding? If they don't, your product hasn't earned their attention yet. High drop-off signals friction, confusion, or misaligned expectations. Completion means you've made that first impression count.

• Time to first value

How quickly do users experience a meaningful outcome from your product? For an educational platform, it might be completing a first lesson. For a supply chain tool, it's mapping an initial supplier relationship. For a financial inclusion product, it could be setting up a first savings goal. The faster users reach value, the more likely they are to return.

• Feature adoption

Which features do users engage with the most, and how often? If your product offers scenario planning but no one uses it, the design isn't making its value clear. Feature adoption shows whether your product's capabilities align with user needs.

• Retention and session frequency

Do users come back? Weekly? Monthly? Retention curves tell you whether the product is embedding itself into workflows or being abandoned after initial curiosity. Sustained engagement is the clearest signal that behaviour is changing.

• Peer sharing and collaboration

Are users inviting colleagues to join in? Sharing insights? Creating team dashboards? Products that change behaviour at scale spread through organisations. Peer adoption is a valuable impact metric that signals potential for growth.

• Progress visibility and completion

Do users track their progress? Complete their goals? Return to check their updates? These actions show the product is helping users see cause and effect, which reinforces behavioural change.

Understanding engagement mechanics.

Sustained behaviour change requires more than good intentions. Nir Eyal's Hooked explores the psychology of habit-forming products and how design can encourage repeated use. The framework offers useful insights into what drives retention and how to design for lasting engagement.

Don’t feel like reading? Watch the TED Talk instead!

Design enables measurement.

You can't measure what users don't do. And users won't engage with features they don't understand, can't find, or don't trust. Design removes those barriers.

Clear onboarding flows increase completion rates. Intuitive dashboards drive feature adoption. Progress trackers make behaviour change visible, reinforcing it. Embedded guidance like tooltips and step-by-step prompts reduce friction while showing you whether users are succeeding or struggling. Each design choice generates data: a well-designed flow reveals where users drop off, a confusing interface surfaces in time-to-value metrics, and microcopy that resonates drives higher completion rates.

Take a food waste app that shows users exactly how many meals they've saved: that visible progress reinforces the behaviour, encouraging repeated use. Design enables the behaviour. That behaviour generates the data. That data proves the impact. That's impact through design.

Iteration as measurement.

Measuring impact is a continuous feedback loop. You observe how users engage, test alternative flows, and refine based on what the data shows.

Low engagement in a scenario simulation? That's a UX barrier. Either simplify the flow or add guided walkthroughs. High drop-off during onboarding? The value proposition isn't landing. Test clearer messaging or reorder steps to show value faster. Again, take the example of a food waste app: if users stop logging meals after week two, that's your signal; either the logging flow is too cumbersome, or the visible impact (meals saved) isn't reinforcing the behaviour strongly enough. Users skipping a feature entirely? Something is either unclear or irrelevant, so either improve discoverability with better navigation or cut it if no one needs it.

By treating design as an iterative measurement tool, you can optimise both user experience and impact outcomes in real time. Every adjustment to flow, microcopy, or visual feedback is an opportunity to improve measurable results.

Beyond product metrics.

Product metrics show whether users are changing behaviour. But impact doesn't stop there. The B Impact Assessment helps you evaluate how your company operates: governance, worker treatment, community engagement, environmental practices. Together, product and company metrics tell the full story of your impact.

Explore the framework

Impact, measured.

Impact measurement doesn't require adding reporting layers or manual surveys. It's embedded in how your product works. Every interaction, completed flow, and return visit is a signal. Intentional design captures these signals and turns them into evidence.

The metrics that prove behaviour change: onboarding completion, time to value, feature adoption, retention, peer sharing, and progress tracking — indicate whether your mission is taking hold and whether your product can scale sustainably. And when those behaviours ripple across teams, when insights spread through organisations, when workflows shift at scale, the data captures systemic transformation, beyond individual adoption.

Throughout this series, we've explored how design builds trust, how the right systems enable adoption, and how measurement proves whether your mission is landing. These aren't separate challenges; they're interconnected. Trust without measurement is just hope. Systems without trust won't scale. And measurement without good design captures nothing meaningful.

Impact isn't what you claim. It's what users experience, adopt, and repeat. It happens when you design and build with intention.